Customer Reviews

I Rode Fido Home

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have all the albums, and make no mistake they are all top-of-the-line, but this one still keeps itself ahead of the others as my favorite.

FIDO, I think, has the best mix of the ranging aspects of EFO's music...from the gut-wrenching "Oh My Brother" to the fun "Moons of Jupiter" to the inspiring "Jerusalem" this album has the range of stuff that makes this band so intoxicating to listen to.

Robbie Schaefer and Mike Clem are truly under-recognized for their song writing and listening to this album never fails to bring to light a new lyric that I never recognized before.

I highly recommend this album for anyone who has heard of EFO and wants to buy their first album, but isn't sure where to begin.

This is one of the EFO CDs that epitomizes the group for me. The lyrics are clever, the fast songs have a great beat (This My Town, Rolling Pin, Rowboat to Rio), the slow songs, are BEAUTIFUL (Oh My Brother, Jerusalem)... All the songs are intelligent, some funny, some moving. It's just a really great mix. A couple of readers said that they preferred Looking Through the Fishbowl, but for money, this CD feels more... substantial somehow. It just gets better with time.

I love this CD. It's the only Eddie CD I own so I can't in any way compare it to their other stuff. As good as it is though, Eddie sounds much better in concert. I would definitely recommend seeing them.

It starts off with the bouncy "This My Town" that nearly always gets me singing along. Other highlights are "The Bridge" which has incredible drums. "Bookends" is beautiful in a simple true kind of way. "Mistress Snow and Mary Jane Green" and "Soup Comes Cheap" have some great lyrics. "Jerusalem" nearly always gets me in tears, especially now with the depressing situation in Israel. "You and Me in a Rowboat to Rio" is what originally got me to make this purchase. It's impossible NOT to fall in love with it. The melody is the most gorgeous thing. It's perfect in all regards, the way it starts off slow and pretty, and then gradually evolves into the happy upbeat tune that it will keep thereafter. I just looove this song. "When the Last Page is Turned" is the best possible way to finish off a CD like this. Breath-takingly amazing in an understated, unpretentious way. Like this CD.

Eddie's first all-studio recording, and the album that got me hooked. I must say that even though they are uncomparably fantastic live, this album demonstrates the range and diversity of Eddie from Ohio. "Oh My Brother" is a particular favorite with Julie Murphy Wells displaying her amazing range and beautiful voice, and Robbie Schaffer's talent for emoting the absolute best of a heartwrenching situation. If this song doesn't touch your heart, you have no appreciation for music. A particular plus on this album is a beautiful violin solo of "Yerushalyim Shel Zahav" by guest musician Pete Wilson on "Jerusalem," another song by Robbie, this time also performed by him. As always, the amazing prowess of this group is displayed magnificently.

If you like college radio, or folky chicks, or wacky bands like BARENAKED LADIES, or people who cover 60's music, or chicks with really great voices, or bizarre lyrics -- try EFO.

This is a great cd -- check it out: I RODE FIDO HOME is an anagram for EDDIE FROM OHIO -- dig their wacky sensibility.

"The Bridge" and "This My Town" are classics; my favorites also include "You and Me in a Rowboat to Rio."

Altogether a happy album, with real style, fun to listen to -- and that Julie Murphy has a killer voice.

Go go go.

I'm sorry. I really wanted to like this album. I really wanted to like this band. No luck on either account. I found the songwriting... insipid. (Sorry!) They had the quality of a couple of relatively good college-age dudes hacking around on guitar and writing songs. They were "good", but that's all. Not great. "Mistress Snow and Mary Jane Green" successfully incorporates a number of different drug references, but it sounds like it was written by someone who never actually "did" drugs, they just heard about it secondhand. (As if I wrote a rap about keepin in real in da hood - NOT!) "Jupiter" was similar... sounded like the best effort of a hipster at SUNY-Plattsburg. The rest of the album was similarly uninspiring. If I had seen them live I wouldn't have bought the CD.

By least favorite, I just mean of all their CD's, this is the one that I listen to the least. I think part of it is many of the songs appear in better versions live on "Portable EfO Show" and are much better live.
Some of the songs sound like filler, which is rare among EfO CD's; usually all the songs are top notch. But, "Mistress Snow & Mary Jane Green" and "Moons of Jupiter" just never did it for me. There are a couple songs that appear only on this CD and are great, like "Catchers Drummers Anchormen" and "When The Last Page Is Turned."
Still a great CD, just not as good as all their others.

Again, a great piece of work by the always talented EFO. This was my second EFO purchase. Not quite the same pace as Fishbowl, but very well received. Overall a great piece of musicianship.

When my roomate in college asked me if I wanted to go see a folk band I just rolled my eyes- I associated folk music with banjos and hillbillies. But she told me to give it a try and just think of it as "alternative country." I've been hooked ever since. It's been 4 years since I first heard this band- I bought this album after the first show. It is still one of my all-time favorite CDs. It is definately something just a little different and fun.

I started with their most recent album, "Looking out the Fishbowl," which was so addictive that I couldn't even listen to anything else for two solid weeks. After that, "I Rode Fido Home" , while still a good album, was a relative letdown. It has its moments, when that EFO catchiness and quality shines through as strong as anywhere else, but it has several songs that just don't soar.